Improvement in paper-fasteners



G. B'. THAYER. Paper-Fasteners.

No. 217,831. Patented July 22,1879.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGEE.

GEORGE B. THAYER, OF CONCORD, ASSIGNOR TO RUFUS A. THAYER, OF

RANDOLPH, MASSACHUSETTS.

IM PROVEM ENT IN PAPER-FASTENERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.

October To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. THAYER, of Concord, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Paper-Fasteners; and do declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had totheaccom pan ying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and tothe letters of reference thereon marked.

The paper-fastener which forms the subject of my invention, and which isdesigned to be used in binding or fastening together separate leaves orsheets of paper, cloth, leather, and similar materials, may bemanufactured at comparatively small expense, may be easily andexpeditiously applied without special expensive apparatus, will holdwith equal certainty and firmness the evervarying thicknesses of sheetsconstantly occurring in practice, and when applied will present a neatand finished appearance on both sides of the side of the sheets anyloose and troublesome projecting points or strips of metal, as is thecase with many of the fasteners now in use.

My paper-fastener consists, essentially, of a shank, B, of any metalsufficiently soft to be easily manipulated, as hereinafter described,firmly united to a head or washer, A, of the same or of a harder metalthan that of the shank B, and a detached head or washer, 0, having arecess formed within it, around a central hole. 0, made for the passageof the shank B, the object of the recess being to receive portions ofthe shank B, bent or forced into it, in the operation of applying thefastener, in such a manner that the main body of the washer G will beabove all parts of the shank B, so that when the fastener is applied nopart of the shank B can come in contact with, to soil or scratch, anyobject upon which the bound sheets may be laid.

The shape of the crosssection of B is immaterial. It may be round,square, or rectangular, 850., either solid or tubular, either single,double, or multiple, or partly single and partly double or multiple, tofacilitate the operation The general outline of A andO is immaterial.

217,831, dated July 22, 1879; application filed 28, 1878.

It may be round, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 7, and S, or of any otherconvenient form. The crosssections of A and 0, however, should besubstantially as shown in the drawings, for the following reasons:first, to economize the material second, to leave a space under thewashers A and O to cover the holes formed in perforatii'lg the sheets;and, third, to form the recess around the central hole, 0, of O. Theshape of the recess should, of course, be made to correspond with thatof the cross-section of B.

The materials of which the fastener is constructed may be described asfollows: For the washers A and 0 any thin hard sheet metal, such asbrass, will be the best.

For the shank B a hard metal or alloy, such as copper or brass, might beused but as the cutting off of the shank of B to the requisite length,which is necessary in applying this fastener, and the subsequentoperation of fixing 0 in place, would require a specially-constructedimplement in case so hard a metal as copper or brass are used, I proposefor ordinary purposes to make the shank B of some soft, easily-workedmetal or alloy, such as lead or an alloy of lead, which offers thefollowing advantages for this purpose: First, the tenacity of a shankwhose area is equal to, or even somewhat less than, that of a circleonesixteenth of an inch in diameter will be sufficient for the purpose;second, a shank of this area of cross-section, even when in the shape ofa round wire, can easily be severed to the proper length with a commonpoeket-knife, and still more easily if in the shape of a double ribbonor tube; third, the metal of the end of the severed shank can easily beforced into the recess around the central hole of G with a blunt awlused in perforating the paper, or with an inexpensive punch, by simplepressure or a slight blow; fourth, no especial care need be taken incutting-off the superfluous part of the shank B; fifth, after the metalof the shank B is headed into the recess of 0, should the sheets not besufficiently compressed between the washers A and O, a slight blow uponthe awl or punch while A is laid flat upon the table or other unyieldingobject will, by upsetting the metal of the shank B between A and 0,bring A and O nearer together and compress the sheets between themsixth, the use of so easily tarnished a metal as lead and most of itsalloys in a paper-fastener is rendered entirely unobjectionable by thedevices shown by the drawings and the form given to the washersAan d O,as therein shown.

The manufactured article should, moreover, be treated with lacquer,whatever form is given to it. The exposed portion of the shank in thewasher A of Figs. 1 and 2 will thus preserve the luster offreshly-worked metal, and if the form of A shown in Figs. 6 and 7 isused, none of the soft metal is exposed.

In the form of the washer 0 shown in Figs. 3 and 5, although a portionof the soft metal is exposed to view, it does not project beyond thebody of the washer 0, so as to be liable to soil or scratch any objecton which it may be placed. In the form of the washer 0 shown in Figs. 8and 10, the soft metal is still more masked.

The operation of applying this fastenerisas follows: The paper beingperforated with any convenient instrument, such as a common brad-awl orknife-blade, the shank B is passed through the hole thus formed untilthe fixed washer A comes against the sheets. The washer G, which isperforated with a hole corresponding to the shape of the shank B, ispassed over the part of the shank B which projects from the reverse sideof the sheets, and brought down upon the sheets. The sheets beinglightly pressed together with the fingers on opposite sides of O, theshank B is cut off close to the washer C, so as to leave sufficientmaterial of the shank outside the central hole of the inner shell of Oto form the head, which may be done by pressing the awl used inperforating upon the center of the projecting part of the shank B, so asto spread out or bend the metal of the shank into the recess about thecentral hole of O. A further slight pressure or blow upon the awl orpunch completes the operation, as before explained.

To bind the sheets temporarily, the shank B is bent down over theoutside of the washer 0 without being cut off. To unbind sheets- Fig. 1shows a central longitudinal section.

as Fig. 4 after the shank is riveted, and that part of the shank betweenthe washers A and O is upset, so as to compress the sheets, as beforeexplained. Figs. 6 to 10, inclusive, which correspond, respectively, toFigs. 1 to 5, inclusive, show the fastener with an outer shell formedover the washers A and (J, to conceal as far as possible the heads ofthe shank B. The head of the shank of washer A is entirely concealed. Inthe outer shell of the washer O a hole must be formed correspond ing tothat of the inner shell, to allow the passage of the shank B and theintroduction of the awl or other instrument used in forcing the metalinto the recess about the central hole of the inner shell and theupsetting of the shank between the washers, as before explained.

It is obvious that the washer A and the shank B may be formed of asingle piece of metal, and, when asoft metal is used, lacquered orotherwise treated to obviate the liability to soil or tarnish.

It is obvious that the washer 0, whether of the form of Figs. 3 or 8,may be made out of a single solid piece of metal.

I claim as my invention the following:

1. A paper-fastener having a single solid penetrating-shank, attached toa suitable head, and a washer perforated to receive the shank, andprovided with a recess to allow the projecting end of the shank to beheaded down even with or below its outer surface, all substantially asshown and described.

2. A paper-fastener having a penetratingshank attached to a suitablehead, and a recessed perforated washer, all constructed and appliedsubstantially as shown and described.

3. In a paper-fastener, a perforated washer for the reverse side of thesheets, having arecess formed therein, substantially as shown, and forthe purposes set forth.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand.

GEO. B. THAYEE.

Witnesses: I

ALFRED W. HOSMER, N. S. DANIELS.

